Color images are customarily obtained in the photographic art by reaction between the oxidation product of a silver halide color developing agent (i.e., oxidized aromatic primary amino developing agent) and a dye-forming compound known as a coupler. The reaction between coupler and oxidized color developing agent results in coupling of the oxidized color developing agent at a reactive site on the coupler, known as the coupling position, and yields a dye. The dyes typically produced by coupling are indoaniline, azomethine, indamine, or indophenol dyes, depending upon the chemical composition of the coupler and the developing agent. The subtractive process of color image formation is ordinarily employed in multicolor photographic elements and the dyes produced by coupling are usually cyan, magenta or yellow dyes which are formed in or adjacent to silver halide emulsion layers sensitive to radiation absorbed by the image dye, i.e., silver halide emulsion layers sensitive to the red, green or blue regions of the spectrum.
In order to prevent oxidized developing agent generated in one image-forming layer of a color photographic element from diffusing into another layer, it is common to incorporate in the element a compound, referred to as a "scavenger", which reacts with the oxidized developing agent without forming a colored reaction product. Because of their high degree of reactivity and excellent oxidative stability, 2,4-disulfonamidophenols are frequently employed as scavengers. The use of 2,4-disulfonamidophenols, or alkali labile precursors thereof, as scavengers for oxidized developing agent is disclosed, for example, in Ross et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,523, issued May 8, 1984.
One deficiency associated with the use of 2,4-disulfonamidophenols as scavengers in photographic systems is that they can cause increased sensitizing dye stain. Sensitizing dyes are ordinarily intended to be washed out or otherwise removed from the photographic element during processing. However, in many cases, sensitizing dye is not fully removed but is retained in the photographic element after processing. This leads to non-imagewise increases in D.sub.min because the retained sensitizing dyes are colored, although usually shifted in hue from when they are absorbed on the surface of the silver halide grains. In particular, red sensitizing dyes often exist in two forms in photographic elements, monomeric (magenta colored, .lambda..sub.max =580 nm) and aggregated (cyan colored, .lambda..sub.max =640 nm).
A particular problem associated with 2,4-disulfonamidophenols is that they tend to contribute significantly to dye stain caused by red sensitizing dye, for example, they can cause retained red sensitizing dye to aggregate. Normally, retained red sensitizing dye is magenta colored and leads to non-imagewise increases in green density. In the presence of a 2,4-disulfonamidophenol, retained red sensitizing dye can aggregate and become cyan colored. After development, there is a positive image in residual disulfonamidophenol. At no exposure, there is no oxidized developing agent to consume the disulfonamidophenol, whereas at high exposure all of the disulfonamidophenol is consumed. Thus, the retained red sensitizing dye will also form a corresponding positive scale of its aggregated form (cyan in color) and a positive scale of red density. This causes an undesirable increase in red D.sub.min and an effective loss in red contrast and speed when the red D.sub.min is readjusted to an aim level. This deficiency is a particular problem whenever high levels of red sensitizing dye are used, as is commonly the case with tabular silver halide emulsions. It is also a particular problem with sensitizing dyes that are especially prone to aggregate in the presence of a 2,4-disulfonamidophenol.
The present invention is directed toward the objective of providing a novel photographic element in which a 2,4-disulfonamidophenol is used as a scavenger without causing excessive increases in sensitizing dye stain.